Tag: south

At a glance: data protection and management of health data in South Korea

Data protection and management

Definition of ‘health data’

What constitutes ‘health data’? Is there a definition of ‘anonymised’ health data?

No law specifically defines ‘health data’ per se, but ‘health information’ is categorised as a type of sensitive information under article 23 of the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). According to the Guidelines for Use of Health-Medical Data co-published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and PIPA in September 2020, ‘health information’ includes but is not limited to the following:

  • medical records and electronic medical records under the Medical Service Act (MSA), and other records produced in hospitals that indicate or easily enable the indication of medical treatment details (eg, hospital receipts containing medical treatment details);
  • data for insurance claims collected by the National Health Insurance Service, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and other private insurance companies, data related to health, illness, injury, etc, used in the subscription design and ancillary data;
  • health examination data, health examination result data;
  • health status information diagnosed by a physician, measured by medical devices, or identified or estimated through estimation of insurance claim records, other algorithms, etc; and
  • information collected through medical devices to measure health status or health habits (eg, number of steps, heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood sugar, blood pressure and electrocardiogram).

 

In particular, if information that is normally not considered health information is used for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention or management of diseases, such information will also be viewed as health information (eg, a voice recording is not health information under normal circumstances, but if the risk of disease is predicted using a voice recording, that voice recording file will be considered health information). Meanwhile, pseudonymised information refers to personal information that has been processed, such as deletion or replacement of certain parts, so that a specific

South Okanagan General Hospital emergency room closed again


For the third time in a week, Interior Health is warning of a “temporary service interruption” at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver.


“Limited physician availability” will close the hospital’s emergency department – which is normally open 24 hours a day – from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to the health authority.


Patients seeking emergency services are being directed to Penticton Regional Hospital – about 40 minutes away – during the closure.


It’s the third time a lack of staff has closed the emergency room at SOGH in the last week.


The department was also closed overnight last Saturday into Sunday morning, and it closed again overnight on Wednesday into Thursday.


Limited physician availability was the reason cited on those occasions as well.


In recent weeks, the provincial government has touted its efforts to hire new health care workers, with Health Minister Adrian Dix claiming Tuesday that more than 5,200 “net new” nurses had been hired since January, along with 524 new international medical graduates that have registered and begun working in B.C.


On the ground, however, staffing clearly remains a challenge. South Okanagan General Hospital was one of at least three facilities in Interior Health to close due to lack of staff over the Thanksgiving long weekend, and health-care facilities continue to see reduced hours and unexpected closures in other health authorities, as well. 


In Merritt, Mayor Michael Goetz has threatened to withhold health-care payments to the province over repeated closures of the emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital, and is urging other mayors to do the same. 


Although Goetz says he has the ear of the health minister and other provincial officials, he told CTV News this week the province has not provided a plan

Not a silver bullet, but a step in the right direction for beleaguered South Okanagan General Hospital – Oliver/Osoyoos News

Solutions may be on the near horizon for the ongoing closures at the South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH) emergency department as Health Minister Adrian Dix says the Alternative Payment Program (APP) for physicians has been approved.

The issue of emergency department closures at SOGH due to limited physician availability has forced people to go to Penticton to receive emergency care on some nights, has been plaguing the hospital for months with multiple closures some weeks.

The issue was a central topic that the Towns of Oliver and Osoyoos brought to their meeting with the Ministry of Health at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention last week in Vancouver.

Because the two towns had back-to-back meetings with Dix and their interests clearly align, both towns went into the meeting as one delegation. They were also joined by Dr. Tarinder Grewal ER Department Head at South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH).

Mayor of Oliver Martin Johansen explained that the meeting with the Ministry of Health was the highlight of the convention for him as they were trying to get the APP moving along for the physicians working out of that hospital.

Even though the ministry told the towns that the plan had been approved, there is still work that needs to be done in getting that laid out and presented to the physicians to get it officially signed off and approved.

“Minister Dix assured us that the Alternative Payment Plan (APP) had been approved

South Africa’s traditional medicines should be used in modern health care

Traditional medicines are part of the cultural heritage of many Africans. About 80%
of the African continent’s population use these medicines for healthcare.

Other reasons include affordability, accessibility, patient dissatisfaction with conventional medicine, and the common misconception that “natural” is “safe”.

The growing recognition of traditional medicine resulted in the first World Health Organization global summit on the topic, in August 2023, with the theme “Health and Wellbeing for All”.

Traditional medicines are widely used in South Africa, with up to 60% of South Africans estimated to be reliant on traditional medicine as a primary source of healthcare .

Conventional South African healthcare facilities struggle to cope with extremely high patient numbers. The failure to meet the basic standards of healthcare, with increasing morbidity and mortality rates, poses a threat to the South African economy.

In my opinion, as a qualified pharmacist and academic with a research focus on traditional medicinal plant use in South Africa, integrating traditional medicine practices into modern healthcare systems can harness centuries of indigenous knowledge, increasing treatment options and provide better healthcare.

Recognition of traditional medicine as an alternative or joint source of healthcare to that of standard, conventional medicine has proven challenging. This is due to the absence of scientific research establishing and documenting the safety and effectiveness of traditional medicines, along with the lack of regulatory controls.

What are traditional medicines?

Traditional medicine encompasses a number of healthcare practices aimed at either preventing or treating acute or chronic complaints through the application of indigenous knowledge, beliefs and approaches. It incorporates the use of plant, animal and mineral-based products. Plant-derived products form the majority of treatment regimens.

Traditional medicine practices also have a place in ritualistic activities and communicating with ancestors.

South Africa is rich in indigenous medicinal fauna and flora,

Health literacy strengths and challenges of people in New South Wales prisons: a cross-sectional survey using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) | BMC Public Health

  • Helen Fair and Roy Walmsley. World Prison Population List 13th Edition. United Kingdom: World Prison Brief, Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research; 2021 Available from: https://www.prisonstudies.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/world_prison_population_list_13th_edition.pdf. Accessed 6 Sep 2022.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. Corrective Services, Australia, September Quarter 2022: Australian Bureau of Statistics; 2022 Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/corrective-services-australia/latest-release. Accessed 1 Feb 2023.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. New South Wales 2021 Census Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats: Australian Bureau of Statistics; 2022. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/IQS1. Accessed 10 Nov 2022.

  • Fazel S, Baillargeon J. The health of prisoners. Lancet. 2011;377(9769):956–65.

    Article 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Binswanger IA, Krueger PM, Steiner JF. Prevalence of chronic medical conditions among jail and prison inmates in the USA compared with the general population. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2009;63(11):912–9.

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Binswanger IA, Merrill JO, Krueger PM, White MC, Booth RE, Elmore JG. Gender differences in chronic medical, psychiatric, and substance-dependence disorders among jail inmates. Am J Public Health. 2010;100(3):476–82.

    Article 
    PubMed 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Dumont DM, Brockmann B, Dickman S, Alexander N, Rich JD. Public Health and the Epidemic of Incarceration. In: Fielding JE, editor. Annu Rev Public Health, Vol 33. Annual Review of Public Health. 332012. p. 325–39.

  • Herbert K, Plugge E, Foster C, Doll H. Prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in prison populations worldwide: a systematic review. Lancet. 2012;379(9830):1975–82.

    Article 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The health of Australia’s prisoners 2018. Canberra: AIHW; 2019. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/prisoners/health-australia-prisoners-2018. Accessed 10 Aug 2022.

  • Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network. 2015 Network Patient Health Survey Report. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network; 2017. Available from: https://www.justicehealth.nsw.gov.au/publications/2015_NHPS_FINALREPORT.pdf. Accessed 10 Aug 2022.

  • Field C, Archer V. Comparing health status, disability, and access to care in

  • Emergency department use and geospatial variation in social determinants of health: a pilot study from South Carolina | BMC Public Health

    Study sample

    The study sample included Prisma Health patients, aged 18 years or older, engaged in ambulatory care and condition management, inpatient case management, or community health in South Carolina’s central (Midlands) and northwestern (Upstate) regions. This study population constitutes initial efforts to pilot the SDoH screening within the health system.

    Data sources

    Prisma Health is the largest non-profit health system in South Carolina and treats about 1.4 million patients annually. Its geographic footprint covers about half of the state’s total population [32]. Census data based on the system’s geographic coverage describes the areas served by the health system as predominantly White (63.4%) with the second most common racial or ethnic group being Black (26.7%). Of individuals in this geographic area, 29.0% have a bachelor’s degree or higher (versus 32.9% nationally), 13.8% would be considered persons in poverty (versus 11.4% nationally) and 13.2% are without health insurance (versus 10.2% nationally). Median household income is $54,864 versus $64,994 nationally and areas covered have population density of 332.6 per square mile (< 500 per square mile and less than 2,500 people being rural) [32].

    The data for this study came from the health system’s piloting of a digital SDoH screening and referral platform in 2020, called NowPow. NowPow is a software program, embedded within the electronic medical record (EMR), that matches patients with SDoH-related needs to local resources based on their demographic information (e.g., distance from home).

    This study uses three data sources: SDoH screening information from NowPow, electronic medical record (EMR) data and geocoded patient addresses. This study was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Prisma Health (IRB# Pro00105482) and approved as human subjects exempt. Informed consent was waived by the IRB committee, and the study was conducted in accordance to all relevant IRB guidelines.

    Data was collected for

    The Sani Sisters’ South Asian-Inspired Fashion on TikTok

    Fashion is synonymous with self-expression, and Niki and Ritika Shamdasani created an entire clothing brand out of their need to feel seen in the fashion industry. When a search for outfits to wear to an Indian wedding left them empty-handed, the sisters set to work creating their own fashion brand tailored to their personal styles. Sani, an abbreviated version of their last name, is a formalwear brand inspired by their South Asian culture. From the age-old dilemma “I have nothing to wear,” the sisters created a sustainable clothing company that blends culture and community.

    “What we found on TikTok was not just an Indian American community. It was a community interested in the culture as whole.”

    “We didn’t have a huge community of Indian Americans or South Asian Americans,” Niki tells POPSUGAR of being born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, after their parents emigrated from India. Growing up in their small, predominately white hometown, the Shamdasani sisters felt out of place. It wasn’t until a family wedding sent them searching for traditional South Asian wedding guest outfits that they realized the importance of making South Asian clothing available to Western consumers.

    Inspired by their personal dilemma, the sisters created a line of wedding-specific formalwear. “For us, it just made so much sense to start off in this category, bring everyone into the culture in a way that hadn’t been done before, in a way that felt accessible and approachable,” Niki says.

    They’ve seen their biggest success on TikTok. On the platform, the sisters maintain a dedicated fan base that has made their business “100 times stronger than before” and influenced the way they evolve their company. “What we found on TikTok was not just an Indian American community,” Ritika says. “It was a community interested in the culture

    Used Clothes Pollute Global South

    Market traders at Gikomba Market in Nairobi sell their wares. The second-hand clothing market directly employs roughly two million people in Kenya. (Photo: Courtesy of Changing Markets Foundation and Clean Up Kenya)

    In wealthy countries, cheap “fast fashion” clothing is often thrown away after being worn just seven or eight times. And while donating those clothes may feel like a good deed, they often end up as waste that pollutes developing countries. Veena Holkar, director of Wildlight Global, spoke with Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb.


    At a glance: data protection and management of health data in South Korea

    Data protection and management

    Definition of ‘health data’

    What constitutes ‘health data’? Is there a definition of ‘anonymised’ health data?

    No law specifically defines ‘health data’ per se, but ‘health information’ is categorised as a type of sensitive information under article 23 of the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). According to the Guidelines for Use of Health-Medical Data co-published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and PIPA in September 2020, ‘health information’ includes but is not limited to the following:

    • medical records and electronic medical records under the Medical Service Act (MSA), and other records produced in hospitals that indicate or easily enable the indication of medical treatment details (eg, hospital receipts containing medical treatment details);
    • data for insurance claims collected by the National Health Insurance Service, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and other private insurance companies, data related to health, illness, injury, etc, used in the subscription design and ancillary data;
    • health examination data, health examination result data;
    • health status information diagnosed by a physician, measured by medical devices, or identified or estimated through estimation of insurance claim records, other algorithms, etc; and
    • information collected through medical devices to measure health status or health habits (eg, number of steps, heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood sugar, blood pressure and electrocardiogram).

     

    In particular, if information that is normally not considered health information is used for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention or management of diseases, such information will also be viewed as health information (eg, a voice recording is not health information under normal circumstances, but if the risk of disease is predicted using a voice recording, that voice recording file will be considered health information). Meanwhile, pseudonymised information refers to personal information that has been processed, such as deletion or replacement of certain parts, so that a specific

    South Asian Neighborhood Overall health Services

    HealthDr. Hiram Polk, a prominent surgeon from Louisville, has been appointed as the commissioner for the state Department for Public Overall health. We will not make any progress decreasing existing health care dysfunction if we can’t have an sincere conversation about what causes it and who income from it. Accurate well being care reform demands ending the anechoic effect , exposing the net of conflicts of interest that entangle well being care, publicizing who benefits most from the existing dysfunction, and how and why.

    Fantastic that some people are getting collectively next week for an Arts & Overall health Northern extravaganza! Heart Wellness – Tomatoes, or, much more accurately lycopene, which is the gooey liquid present around the seeds of tomatoes, has a large part to play in heart well being. If you make under 400{6b0fc0539b672c5d14720bdb0a7a87df299e4c9e565e7ef61920e5dda07b7975} of the FPL and could qualify for subsidies, then it makes sense to acquire your insurance by way of the marketplace. Some people have stomach distress if they take Curcumin on an empty stomach, and suggest taking it with food. Soon after last year’s 4{6b0fc0539b672c5d14720bdb0a7a87df299e4c9e565e7ef61920e5dda07b7975} price increase, California’s Obamacare insurance exchange prices seem to be catching up to the rest of the nation.

    The main benefit of buying a program by means of your State’s marketplace is that you may possibly be eligible for expense-assistance (on premiums) and out-of-pocket fees if you make much less than 400{6b0fc0539b672c5d14720bdb0a7a87df299e4c9e565e7ef61920e5dda07b7975} of the Federal Poverty Level Shoppers can also use the health insurance marketplace to evaluate wellness strategy rewards, networks, fees, and coverage from competing providers.

    From Homer to Goethe a literal exploration about the lived encounter of people fleeing the horrors of their own counties, only to face the new horrors of fear and misunderstanding of other cultures. The Well being app lets you hold all your …

    Back To Top